Cheating Death
by Suspicious Pickles
Summary: Madeleine Williams had an average, if not boring life until she narrowly escapes a car crash that could have  and should have, as she later finds out  killed her. Suddenly, she finds herself with an "awesome" demon that promises to soon take her soul.
1. Chapter 1

**Formerly known as Cheating Death, also major editing with plot and Maddie's gender. Inspired by the song, "If I Die Young" by The Band Perry and a commercial for Final Destination 4. Still looking for a beta so please excuse any errors (please still me about them though, please). **

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><p><em>Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.<em>  
><em>Matthew 10: 28 NIV <em>

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><p>The alarm sounded off, filling the room with an annoying beeping sound. Madeleine blindly smacked at the alarm until the noise stopped. She put on her glasses before finally forcing herself to get up from the comfy bed.<p>

The Canadian yawned and stumbled off to the bathroom to get ready for the day. It looked like it was going to be another slow, typical day. Oh god, even a Friday was now considered boring. Summer couldn't come fast enough.

After a long shower found her brushing her teeth while simultaneously trying to pull her long blond hair into two pigtails. She briefly considered cutting it for convenience's sake but that would risk her looking even more like her twin.

As if his brother heard his thoughts, someone began loudly banging on the door. "Maddie, hurry up! We're going to be late!" Alfred's voice could be heard through the door.

Maddie simply raised an eyebrow at the door, even though Alfred couldn't see her. Since when did Alfred care about being late? Unless this had something to do with seeing a certain junior before school started…

Maddie let the door swing open, stepping out and finally ready to go. As tempting as the thought was to make Alfred suffer a little longer, she did have a paper to finish before second period. Damn US History Class.

"Jeez, will you give me a second? I'm sure your British lover will not die from waiting a few extra seconds." Maddie simply grinned and innocently blinked her large violet eyes when Alfred lightly punched her arm.

"He's not my lover. I'm too busy with my heroic duties to bother with romance. And have you met Arthur? If he's kept waiting too long _someone_ will die."

Maddie didn't bother pointing out Alfred's obvious denial, instead grabbing the keys to the car before her distracted brother could make a dive for them. Ignoring Alfred's continued rambling; she cast a longing glance at the pantry where the maple syrup was kept before heading out to the car. She'd kill for some pancakes but Alfred was right (for once), they really were running late.

Her brother finally noticed that Maddie had gotten to the keys before him. "Aw, come on! Let me drive for once." Maddie had to duck to avoid her brother making a grab for the keys to the Ford Taurus.

"You drove yesterday," Maddie reasoned. Not to mention that I don't think this car could handle anymore of your reckless driving, she added silently. Maddie began to open the door of the car when Alfred changed tactics.

"I'll finish that history paper for you," Alfred offered.

Maddie stiffened at this new offer. She and her brother both knew that Alfred was better at US History. Maddie couldn't afford a bad grade with the end of the year approaching so quickly. Maddie silently cursed. Why couldn't they still live in Canada?

"Alright, but I'm reading over it before it gets turned in." Madeleine tossed the keys to her brother before walking over to the passenger side. Damn US History Class.

"Aw, sweet!" Alfred shouted before swinging himself into the driver's seat. Maddie said a quick prayer that for once Alfred wouldn't think the car next to them at the stoplight was challenging him to a race. Especially if said car happened to be a police car. Again.

Maddie had barely buckled her seat belt in when her brother hit the gas, sending the car down the driveway at a speed that would get them pulled over on a highway even in Italy. That paper had better be the best piece of goddamn literature Alfred had ever written.

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><p>Somehow, Madeleine eventually managed to relax during the drive despite Alfred's reckless driving. It wasn't like she had never been in a car with her brother before, but lately the car was beginning to look a little worn down and Alfred was getting… bolder with his driving.<p>

Still, Maddie began to grow nervous again when the rain started to fall. The forecast hadn't called for rain; otherwise she wouldn't have let Alfred drive. It did nothing to elevate her worries when the rain began to pick up until it was a huge downpour.

"What's up with the weather? It was supposed to be nice out today," Alfred whined, turning on the windshield wipers.

"Keep your eyes on the road; it wouldn't be good to crash in weather like this." She nervously twirled one of her pigtails. Oh yeah, she definitely shouldn't have let Alfred drive.

"Relax, Maddie. If we do crash I'll be the hero and save you." Maddie rolled her eyes and turned to watch the rain drizzle down the window in a steady river.

"I'm sure you would Alfr-Watch out!" Maddie was able to watch in horror and almost slow motion as the car in the lane next to them swerved on the rain slick road, turning so that the front end was coming directly at her.

She couldn't do anything. Everything was moving too fast and starting to blur together.

Not quite snapping out of her trance in time, Maddie tried to flinch away from the car coming at her but in the end what saved her was Alfred grabbing onto her arm and yanking the slightest bit back. She vaguely noted in the back of her mind that her hat had flown off.

Maddie could hear Alfred shouting something at her but it was like her brain had been stuffed with cotton balls. Nothing made sense at the moment.

But despite her state of shock, she noticed a man watching her from across the street. Maddie squinted at the man, trying to make out features through the blurriness. The guy staring at her appeared to be disturbingly pale with white hair. Maddie couldn't make out anything else about the man except that he seemed incredibly...irritated.

She blinked, trying to clear her vision before suddenly becoming aware of a stabbing pain in her side. Overwhelmed by the pain and shock of what happened, Matthew let her eyes roll back into her head and everything went white.


	2. Chapter 2

Typing could be vaguely heard throughout the desolate office setting. Monotonous walls of the hallway were a slate grey, only a few shades darker than the hair of the person walking down the hallway. He was average height but looked much more intimidating wearing his black uniform, especially with the contrast it made to his blood red eyes.

Students were out with their mentors so the entire building was almost completely empty, everyone either training or simply outside enjoying the beautiful weather.

Gilbert paused a moment to crack his back before continuing down the long, grey hallway. This sucked he decided. He had the awesomest job in the world, he was awesome at his job, and yet he was now faced with a sucky amount of extra work.

As a grim reaper it was his job to oversee the process of a human's death and collect the souls that needed to be collected, not babysit some girl because no one knew how to deal with a glitch in the system.

He dumped a stack of papers that included the girl's file onto a desk before heading to the gate that lead to the human plane. Four months was a long time to watch over a human but he still felt bad for the poor bastard that would actually need four months to fill out all the paperwork to make up for the mistake.

Just as Gilbert was about to step through to the human world he felt something crash in his back, arms wrapping around his middle.

He had grown used to these attacks long ago and now simply turned around and returned the hug. A short boy that looked around sixteen with warm amber eyes stared up at him excitedly. "Feli! I never see you enough anymore, how have you been?" He ruffled Feliciano's brown hair affectionately, avoiding that curl because it pissed off Ludwig when he touched it for some reason.

"Ve~ Hey Gilbert! Are you really going to the human world? Can I come, it's so boring here and Lovina's acting even more pissy than usual, so can she come too? But wait, Luddy should come also and I need to pack enough pasta and my flag, just in case-"

"Feliciano! Leave Gilbert alone, he's going on an important mission." A voice with a strong German accent called. A tall, muscular blond with slicked back blond hair and icy blue eyes marched down the monotonous hallway and yanked Feliciano away from Gilbert.

Both the Gilbert and the Italian pouted at the loss of contact. "Aw, come on, West. You were about as far with your training when I first took you into the human world. It'll be a good experience for him. Might as well make it a group outing." For emphasis, Gilbert tugged on the sleeve of Feliciano's navy blue uniform that showed he was still a student.

"That's different. You were much more…stern when training me." Gilbert smirked when he realized how whipped his ex-protégé had become. Gilbert himself had been trained by one of two most powerful grim-reapers in the world, and he had followed his teacher's example to a T when training Ludwig. He would never admit it out loud, of course, but he was proud of how strong Ludwig had become and had come to think of him as a younger brother. _Maybe one day he'll even be stronger than me or Albrecht_, he briefly mused. …Nah.

Gilbert turned when he heard rabid footfalls racing down the hall. A girl that looked strikingly like Feliciano except long, darker hair and a less ditzy expression was barreling down the hallway, screaming something in Italian.

The newcomer skidded so she stood directly in front of Feliciano. She was the same height as the short Italian but Feliciano seemed to shrink as she stared him down tauntingly with her hands on her hips. "Haha, Feli, Antonio's finally taking me to the human world! Take that you little asshole!"

At this Feliciano instantly brightened and hugged the girl tightly, even though she immediately tried to squirm out of his grip. "Yay! That's great, Lovina. Now we can all go to the human world together! Ludwig, Gilbert, and I were just about to go too."

Ludwig opened his mouth to object but then yet another voice called from down the hallway. "Good idea, Feli! Isn't this going to be fun, Lovi?" A tall, lithe man with tanned skin and curly brown hair came over and tried to wrap his arms around Lovina. His green eyes sparkled and his smile grew wider when Lovina tried to smack him away.

"I told you not to call me that, you bastard. And what the hell, why is my brother going to the human world too? If you weren't so damn lazy with my training I'd be ahead of him." Lovina pointed accusingly at Feliciano who was staring off into space while she simultaneously managed to push Antonio away from her. Gilbert tried to comfort his best friend with a pat on the back but he was too busy chuckling at the scene before him.

"You're doing great with your training, my tomato. And I couldn't let you go into the human world until I thought you were ready for it; what if my Lovi got hurt?"

Their bickering grew in volume and people were beginning to peak out into the halls. Lovina was about to smack Antonio again but Ludwig had finally reached the limit of his patience. "Enough! Gilbert, you have a mission to get to and if you all still insist on going we might as well leave now. I want everyone to go through the gate in order. Stay next to your partner and don't dawdle. No more than two people go through the gate at once, and we shall all walk in formation to appear organized and disciplined. Yes, Feliciano, there will be pasta in the human world. Gilbert, Gilbird is on your head. Absolutely no bringing back pets this time, Antonio. Any questions?" The German was slightly out of breath by the end of his speech, silently daring anyone to question him. Feliciano began to hesitantly raise his hand but stopped when Ludwig cut through him with his eyes.

"Good, let's go." Ludwig grabbed Feliciano's arm much to his surprise and started dragging the struggling Italian through the door. They appeared to walk through it before their forms wavered and disappeared.

"Don't touch me, pedo bastard." Despite her own words, Lovina grabbed Antonio's hand and pulled him through the door, only stopping to kick him in the shins when he exclaimed how cute she looked. Antonio briefly hopped up and down on one foot before disappearing through the door with Lovina.

Gilbert laughed and patted the yellow ball of fluff on his head. "This place has been too dry lately. Maybe a vacation will be awesome, eh Gilbird?" The bird answered with a tweet before Gilbert jumped through the portal too, setting out for a long four months.

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><p>With a brother like Alfred, Madeleine should have gotten used to being woken up in rude and abrupt ways. But she was startled every time whether it was from Alfred jumping on her or having a stray puppy dumped on her head. This time it was rather nice to be woken up simply from the bright light of the room. However, she still felt her stomach twist when she saw she was lying in a hospital bed with nothing else in the room except a plastic chair, an old TV in the corner, and an unoccupied bed.<p>

Maddie blinked, trying to remember how she had gotten here. She hoped Alfred hadn't done something stupid.

"Maddie, you awake?"

Maddie turned her head and saw her brother standing in the doorway. She smiled in relief. It figured Alfred escaped unscathed from whatever happened while Maddie ended up in the hospital.

"Yeah, I'm fine. What happened?" Maddie unconsciously rested her hand on her side, where she could feel a dull ache.

"Aw man, you don't remember? I totally got to be the hero and saved you from dying in a car crash. Pretty cool, huh?" Alfred grinned crookedly, his eyes lighting up as he described what happened.

Maddie began to rub at the back of her neck, trying to remember the car crash. She could remember small snippets of it raining and Alfred driving the car. She was sure there was something else she was forgetting but couldn't for the life of her remember what it was.

"…So… does Mom know?"

Alfred halted at this. He shot an uncharacteristically unsure look at Maddie before continuing. "She heard. She said that she's too busy with work to come back but she hopes you'll feel better soon."

Maddie felt her face fall more and more with every word. She knew her mother was busy with work and was probably on the other side of the country at the moment, but she didn't even seem to care about what happened. Their dad had left them just when they were kids and now it felt like their mom was doing the same. She looked away from Alfred, trying to hide the glistening in her eyes.

Alfred was obviously unnerved by her reaction and hesitantly reached out his sister but paused. He nervously laughed. "Hey, Maddie, cheer up, man. Look, I brought burgers!"

Maddie cringed at the offered bag that was dripping with grease but accepted it anyway. "Thanks, Al."

Alfred smiled, an actual one this time. "No problem. And the doc says you can get out in a few days so we can go catch that movie you wanted to see." The movie Alfred mentioned was an action movie with nothing but explosives and women in tight clothing, which only Alfred would appreciate, but that didn't matter.

Spending time with her brother after that experience would be worth it.

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><p>Madeleine pulled on the corner of her skirt before she walked into the classroom with the other students. So far no one had made a comment about her return from a few days of absence but that was to be expected.<p>

What actually surprised her was the albino man with white hair and red eyes standing next to the teacher's desk. He was surveying the classroom and an odd expression came on his face when he saw Maddie. He looked either amused or pissed off, Maddie couldn't tell before she looked away and self consciously pushed a blond strand of hair out of her face.

"Everyone have a seat please. We have a new student named Gilbert Beilschmidt. Make an effort to get along now that he is one with the student body." Their teacher, Mr. Braginski smiled innocently but everyone still felt a shiver up their spine. Maybe Alfred was right about not trusting him, even if "'cause he's a Russian commie" wasn't a good reason.

Maddie took a seat in the back and looked at the new student in interest. He seemed vaguely familiar, even though Maddie couldn't place where from. Maddie also took note that Gilbert was kind of attractive but that notion disappeared when Gilbert looked at her with a ridiculous, shit eating smirk. This man almost put Alfred to shame.

"Gilbert, you can take a seat in the back next to um… just sit in that empty seat in the back."

Maddie heaved a sigh and pulled her white hat lower on her head. She had learned long ago that there was no point in reminding the teacher of her name.

Maddie was interrupted from her thoughts by an obnoxious laugh directly in front of her. She nearly jumped when she came face to face with brilliant red eyes staring right at her.

"I'm too awesome to ignore, kid."

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><p><strong>Albrect is Germania, and Julius is Rome. For anyone confused, in this world a grim reaper (a demon that looks like a human, once was a human, and has gone through special training) goes through a year of basic training before being turned over for four years to a mentor that is already a full-fledged grim reaper<strong>. **Full-fledged grim reapers wear a black uniform, while trainees wear blue. Mentors go as the following: **

**Albrect (Germania) trained Gilbert (Prussia), who trained Ludwig (Germany), who is training Feliciano (North Italy) **

**Antonio (Spain) is training Lovina (South Italy) **

**I'm loving the side pairings but I feel like I cheated by revealing so much in an author's note. ;~; Please review, and tell me which you prefer; new or old version of this story? **


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